Literature review of Triple-negative breast cancer metastasis to lungs and its management through Chemotherapy

Abstract:

The present
study is a review of literature that covers an aspect of role of BRCA1 gene
mutation in breast cancer metastasis, risk of recurrence influenced by stage at
initial presentation, the underlying biology of the tumor, time of relapse
after diagnosis of the primary tumor, reasons for metastasis, various
biological markers discovered up till date, discussion of several mathematical
models, with a focus on how they have been used to predict the initiation time
of metastatic growth, and standard choice of treatment best suited for triple
negative breast cancer metastasis.

Breast
cancer starts as a local disease, but it could metastasize to the lymph nodes
and distant organs. As by definition, Metastatic breast cancer, also known as
Advanced or Stage IV breast cancer, is the stage in breast cancer progression
in which malignant cells from the primary tumor successfully create new tumors
in distant organs. According to the
Research studies, women who have BRCA1 mutations are at higher risk for triple
negative breast cancer. The prognosis of women with triple negative breast
cancers (ER-negative, PR-negative and HER2-neu –negative) is poor as compared
to women with other subtypes of breast cancer. TNBC relapses more frequently
than hormone receptor-positive subtypes and is often associated with poor
outcomes.

Patients and
oncologists always have a dilemma on how to cope with this aggressive disease.
For patients, the diagnosis of breast cancer is fearsome; so when they know
additionally that they suffer from TNBC—a subtype with poor outcomes—this
situation is often more stressful. TNBC patients have a unique pattern of
relapse, which occurs mostly in the first 3 years following diagnosis. Although
metastatic breast cancer is not curable, meaningful improvements in survival
have been seen, coincident with the introduction of newer systemic therapies.